September 9, 2012

Images have been released of the Royal Navy's next-generation frigate - the Type 26 GCS (Global Combat Ship).
Set to replace the Royal Navy's Type 23 Frigates from 2020 onwards,
the Type 26s will be tasked with a number of roles, primarily combat and
anti-piracy work but also disaster relief and humanitarian operations.
The Type 23 Frigates were pressed into Royal Navy service between
1989 and 2002, with 16 built in all. Following the sale of three
examples to the Chilean Navy, 13 Type 23s now remain with the Royal
Navy.

Type 26 Global Combat Ship

The Type 26 Global Combat Ship programme represents a partnership
between the Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems and these new images
give some indication of this highly advanced frigate's specifications.
Approximately 148 metres long, it will displace something like 5,400
metric tons of water and feature an array of armament. It will cruise at
around 28 knots and have a 7,000 mile range and an endurance of 60
days, with 36 troops on board.
Vertically-positioned missile silos will be used to house a range of
weapons including Sea Ceptor air-defence missiles, while there'll also
be a medium-calibre gun and space on board to accommodate one AW159
Wildcat or Merlin HM2 helicopter and numerous unmanned vehicles
including UUVs.

Royal Navy Type 26

"The Type 26 Global Combat Ship will be the backbone of the Royal
Navy for decades to come", the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support
and Technology, Peter Luff, explained in an MoD press release on the
Royal Navy Type 26 GCS's launch. "It is designed to be adaptable and
easily upgraded, reacting to threats as they change."
"The Type 26 Global Combat Ship will be a multi-mission warship
designed for joint and multinational operations across the full spectrum
of warfare, including complex combat operations, maritime security
operations such as counter piracy, as well as humanitarian and disaster
relief work around the world", added the Royal Navy's First Sea Lord,
Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope.
"It will be capable of operating independently for significant
periods or as part of a task group and will play a major role in the
defence of this country for many years."

NEW DELHI — Indian scientists are in the process of developing robots
to replace human soldiers in the near future as part of the country’s
unmanned warfare system.
A new research facility has been set up
by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and BEML
Ltd., the state-run heavy engineering and defense equipment major, in
Avadi, a suburb of Chennai in south India, to make robot soldiers and
cargo-transporting robots for the country’s army.

“Whatever a
soldier will do in warfare, a robot soldier should be able to do. If the
human is doing a search in warfare, the robot soldier will also do
that. If a human is doing firefighting, the robot soldier will do that,”
says V.K. Saraswat, DRDO’s director general and scientific adviser to
India’s defense minister. “The DRDO is working on the project to have
robot soldiers by 2020 or 2030,” he says.
The robot soldiers will
be able to perform duties including carrying loads of ammunition and
payloads for mine detection and surveillance. Saraswat says they can be
controlled from remote locations, which would help the country’s armed
forces by not having to deploy people in areas which are difficult to
access. “Such a robot needs a database and artificial intelligence to
carry out its activities,” Saraswat says. “A lot of effort and
coordination among various agencies in the defense sector [will be]
needed to develop these robots.”

The new robot soldiers are likely to replace at least some of India’s 100,000 soldiers.
In
a separate project, DRDO is planning to design robotic mules that can
replace the animals used by Indian soldiers to carry heavy loads in
mountainous terrain.